PHRM 1102 Module 3: Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Module 3: Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) lecture transcript, focusing on regulatory requirements, safety culture, incident management definitions, and CQI+ processes.

Controlled Substances Regulations (CSR) Section 117

A federal provision requiring a pharmacist or pharmacy technician who receives a verbal order for a controlled substance or verbal prescription to record their own name, practitioner identification and practice municipal address, receipt date, substance details, and refill parameters.

CQI+

The Alberta College of Pharmacy's continuous quality improvement program designed to enhance the safety and quality of pharmacy care, enable proactive patient safety, facilitate learning and sharing, and strengthen pharmacy safety culture.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

An ongoing, proactive approach replacing traditional Quality Assurance (QA) that focuses on continuously identifying system weaknesses and improving all aspects of care delivery before harm occurs.

Practice Incident

An event that may lead to inappropriate drug use or patient harm that has reached the patient (replaces terms like medication incident or drug error).

Close Call

An event that could have resulted in an unwanted consequence but did not reach the patient either by chance or timely intervention (also referred to as a 'good catch'; replaces 'near miss').

Prevent (CQI+ Activity)

The core CQI+ activity focused on taking proactive actions—such as establishing policies, completing safety assessments, and holding training—to minimize risks to patients before incidents occur.

Respond (CQI+ Activity)

The CQI+ activity involving timely, comprehensive care after an incident, including ensuring immediate patient safety, disclosing the incident, apologizing, documenting details, and providing support.

Analyze (CQI+ Activity)

The CQI+ activity that examines practice incidents and close calls as soon as possible to identify underlying contributing factors and root causes.

Improve (CQI+ Activity)

The CQI+ activity centered on creating, implementing, and routinely evaluating SMART action plans to enhance practice safety and prevent error recurrence.

Communicate (CQI+ Activity)

The overarching CQI+ activity involving ongoing engagement and transparent dialogue with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and pharmacy team members to foster shared learning.

Safety Culture

An organizational environment commitment where pharmacy team members view practice incidents and close calls as indicators of potential system weakness rather than individual failures.

Just Culture

A foundational building block of safety culture that treats healthcare workers with respect, dignity, and compassion when errors occur, avoiding blame while establishing clear accountability.

Reporting Culture

A building block of safety culture where pharmacy staff willingly document incidents and close calls because they trust that their feedback will lead to positive action.

Learning Culture

A building block of safety culture representing an organization's willingness to embrace change and view incident documentation as continuous opportunities for improvement.

Practice Incident Management Platform

A required software platform used by a pharmacy team under unique individual logins to document, analyze, and manage practice incidents and close calls.

National Incident Data Repository for Community Pharmacies (NIDR)

A national repository managed under CMIRPS that receives de-identified, anonymous incident reports from community pharmacies to analyze safety trends across Canada.

Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS)

A national safety program funded by Health Canada and supported by ISMP Canada to reduce and prevent harmful medication incidents.

Community Pharmacy Incident Reporting (CPhIR)

An ISMP Canada incident management platform used by community pharmacies to record incidents, complete self-assessments, and submit anonymous data to the NIDR.

Safety Self-Assessment

A collaborative tool (such as MSSA or PSSA) that pharmacy teams must complete every 2 years or within 6 months of a licensee change to identify safety strengths and vulnerabilities.

Safety Huddles

Short, informal CQI meetings held daily, at shift changes, or immediately after an incident to share timely safety concerns, collaborate on solutions, and reinforce safety culture.

Disclosure

Meaningful and sincere dialogue with a patient or their agent following a practice incident, including an acknowledgment, explanation of events, apology, and review of corrective actions.

Second Victims

Healthcare professionals who experience psychological distress, guilt, or trauma following involvement in a practice incident and require workplace or peer support.

SMART Action Plans

Actionable quality improvement plans designed to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle

A four-stage iterative process (Plan, Do, Study, Act) used to test micro-changes, observe outcomes, and refine workflow improvements.

Adverse Drug Event

An unexpected and undesired incident related to drug therapy that results in patient injury, death, or an adverse outcome for a patient.

Drug Error

An adverse drug event or a drug incident where the drug has been released to the patient.

Drug Incident Report Retention Requirement

The ACP regulatory requirement mandating that drug incident reports and quarterly review reports be retained for at least 10 years from the discovery date.